


Hale's

by JasonPeace



Category: Tokio Hotel
Genre: Children, Comedy, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 08:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7794823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonPeace/pseuds/JasonPeace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When 11-year-old Hale cleans up the basement with her father Tom, she discovers a box filled with old pictures of an unusual stranger her widowed father had never mentioned before. Is he just a random friend of her parents or is there more behind it? <br/>And why are there so many in which her father is kissing that man? Cuz that's kinda weird.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all :3  
> this story is really short (15 chapters) and the chapters are pretty short too, so i'll be posting one chapter every day ^^ Please enjoy!

“Thank you for your purchase! Have a nice evening!” Tom smiled at the woman who finally walked out of the shop with her bouquet of flowers. She had taken nearly half an hour to decide on what she wanted, and Tom really just wanted to lock up because it was already past 6pm and he had actually wanted to start cleaning out the basement today.

Turning over the ‘Open’ sign, he locked up the small flower store and pulled down the iron shutters in front of the display windows and then switched off the lights in the front of the store.

Through the small door in the back, he could see light; obviously Hale was already in there.

“Hey,” He greeted as he entered.

“I already made space!” Hale said proudly, pointing at the small uncrowded area in their storage room. She had only made space by pushing everything to the sides.

“Right… Let’s get started then!” He said enthusiastically, even though he was so tired he would much rather just make dinner and go to bed despite it still being so early. He had been working so much lately with this whole ‘store expanding’ thing he hadn’t come around to sleeping much, and that even though they hadn’t even fully started yet. So far he had only done the paperwork… Had he known how much paperwork it was just to legally add the basement to the ‘store area’, he would have never gone through with this. But they really did need the extra storage space because by now it was so crowded in the small back room that it was almost impossible to walk.

Hale had pushed all the boxes with paper, ribbons, flower treatments and all other sorts of things to the sides so they had space to carry up whatever was in the basement; Tom hadn’t actually gone down there in years.

“That looks creepy,” Hale said excitedly as Tom opened the old, iron door leading down to the basement.

“So it does…” He muttered, switching on the light that was covered in cobwebs. This would be a lot of works…

With a deep breath, he walked down the dusty steps.

“This place is so awesome,” Hale whispered right behind him. “Do you think anyone ever died down here? This place could have belonged to a serial killer who hid his victims down here!” She said seriously.

Tom turned to give her a dry look. “This used to be a bakery before we moved in.”

“Did they also make pies? Maybe the serial killer made pies filled with human flesh!” Hale said excitedly.

“You watched Sweeney Todd again, didn’t you?” Tom asked, shaking his head. “What did I tell you about that movie, Hale?”

“Um… That the songs are awesome and Alan Rickman is super sexy?” She asked slowly.

“That you’re not supposed to watch them without me and/or before going to bed!” Tom said exasperatedly. “And it was _you_ who said that about Alan Rickman, not me!” Where did she get these ideas from?! Children these days were so premature.

The basement was cramped with old rubbish, most that had belonged to the previous owners but also a few of Tom’s things. When they had moved in 7 years ago, Tom had put all the old boxes down here that he didn’t know where else to put.

“That stuff over there is ours. The rest… I’ll call a company to clear it all out.” Tom pointed at a few neatly stacked boxes.

“Oh my god!” Hale suddenly said loudly, nearly giving Tom a heart attack.

“What?” He asked alarmed, running over into the other room where the girl was pointing at a giant oven.

“That’s where he burned his victims, isn’t it?!” She asked dramatically.

“No. That’s where they baked bread.” Tom sighed. He worked too much. He really needed to spend some more time with his daughter because she was turning into kind of a morbid creep. Even her homeroom teacher, Mrs Pierce, had already talked to Tom about it after Hale had drawn some ‘violent and gory’ pictures in class. In reality it had just been a couple of bats, or mice or vampires, or something, but obviously the teacher had thought this to be inappropriate and called him over.   
Was it the books she read? The movies she watched?

Tom sighed quietly. “Let’s just get these boxes up, okay?”

“Right!” Hale said enthusiastically, and so they carried all the dusty boxes up to the back of the store. Well actually Tom did the carrying while Hale just ran around, commenting on it.

“And this one says ‘Misc’. What does misc mean?” Hale asked skeptically while she followed Tom up the stairs again.

“It means ‘miscellaneous’,” Tom explained patiently as he finally put the heavy box down. Where were they going to put all this stuff? Maybe they should just throw it away… They hadn’t used it in 7 years – that meant they obviously didn’t need it anymore, right?

“What’s that?” She asked confused.

“’Miscellaneous’ means a bunch of mixed things that I didn’t know what else to call…” Tom had no idea what any of those boxes might contain.

“Can I open it?” Hale asked excitedly inspecting the old box.

“Sure, but please don’t make a mess. Put whatever you take out on the table there and then put it back in when you’re done, okay?”

“Okay!” She clapped her hands happily the way she always did, and then dragged the heavy box over to the table that was mostly covered in things she dumped carelessly into a different box.

“Hale,” Tom groaned, but she was already busy pulling random things out of the box. He should have seen that coming… Oh well. With a sigh, he went back to the basement to get the rest of the boxes.

For the next thirty minutes or so, Hale was suspiciously quiet while Tom stacked the boxes into the cramped space; 22 in total. What was he supposed to do with all this?!   
The boxes read stuff like ‘clothes’, ‘kitchen utensils’, ‘Hale baby’, ‘Hale toys’… ‘Tom toys’… so not a box he should let Hale see… ‘college stuff’, ‘blankets’, etc. etc. etc. Were those things they still needed? Still wanted?

“What have you got there?” He asked curiously, walking over to the table, only to pause dead with his breath stuck in his throat. He had completely forgotten about that box.

Hale lifted her head with a curious look. “Who’s this?” She asked, holding up a picture that made Tom’s heart twist painfully.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Tom stared at the pictures spread on the table, flooded by memories of another lifetime.

“Who is it?” Hale asked softly, holding up a picture of the wild, raven haired teen who owned Tom’s heart.

“It’s Bill Kaulitz…” Tom muttered distractedly, taking the picture from her. It showed Hale’s mother, Tom and Bill, in a random setting Tom couldn’t remember at all. There were so many pictures of them, he couldn’t even remember where they had all been taken.

“Who’s Bill?” Hale asked after a few moments of silence.

“What?” Tom muttered distractedly, looking down at her. She pointed at the countless pictures spread across the table and gave him a curious look.

“Oh um… He was… A friend of mine and your mother’s…”

“How come none of these pictures are upstairs?” Judging by Hale’s soft, serious tone, she hadn’t missed that this was a strange situation.

“Um…” What was he supposed to tell her? How could he possibly explain this to an 11-year-old? Though of course…

“We met when I first arrived at the boarding school,” he said with a soft smile, remembering the day he had first made friends with Bill Kaulitz. Even though it was so long ago, he remembered it as if it had been yesterday.

“We were in the same dormitory, and we became best friends immediately.” Tom smiled fondly at the memory of the brash, loud, crazy kid he had fallen in love with at first sight. Of course he didn’t mention that part to his daughter because she was way too young for such stories.   
Then he remembered that he had been her age at the time… But parents had the silly habit of viewing their children as innocent angels because they had already forgotten what they themselves had been like at that age.

“How come you never told me about him before?” Hale asked curiously.

‘ _Because no child wants to know their parent’s dirty little secrets…_ ’ He thought drily. “I haven’t really thought about him in a long time,” he lied. ‘ _At least not since today earlier…_ ’

“Oh.” Hale nodded. “So… Mom also knew him?”

Tom sighed with a nod, looking over all the pictures; not like he could deny that one.

“You guys were good friends?” Hale asked carefully, obviously having noticed he was feeling a bit off.

“Yes. Friends…” Tom nodded heavily, feeling like in a dream.

“Just friends?” Hale asked with a quiet giggle.

“Excuse me?” Tom lifted his head to give her a sharp look.

The girl lifted a picture that nearly made Tom choke on his spit. It was of him and Bill kissing.

“That’s not what it looks like!” Tom defended immediately.

Hale raised an amused eyebrow. “Really?”

“Give me those and go to bed!” He ordered sternly, snatching the pictures away from her.

“So anyway!” Hale continued merrily. “Was he your boyfriend before you got together with mom?”

“No!” Tom growled, trying to stack all the pictures together.

“I can totally see why – he’s really hot.” Hale nodded understandingly.

“Excuse me?” Tom squeaked, clearing his throat quickly. “What’s wrong with you? You’re 11 – stop saying shit like that!”

“You just said ‘shit’…” Hale giggled.

Tom took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Sorry. What I’m trying to say is that you’re 11 – behave like it.”

“How did you behave when you were 11?” Hale asked pointedly, crossing her arms.

“I did not call random guys ‘hot’!” Somehow Hale came way too much after her mother.

“Uh-huh,” Hale said incredulously. “Are you gay?”

“No!” Tom stared at her in disbelief. What was happening here?! How had this situation escalated so quickly? “I was married to your mother, remember?”

“Oh yeah!” Hale laughed, apparently only now remembering this fact. “Were you gay before you married her?”

“That’s not how it works,” Tom said drily, finally stuffing all the pictures back into their folders.

“How does it work then?” Hale asked confused.

Tom paused to look at her; she didn’t look upset or angry, just curious. “Um… You either are or you are not gay. You don’t go back and forth.”

The girl nodded slowly. “So what are you?”

Tom debated what to say for a moment. How was he supposed to explain this? She was too young… Alright, so that was just a cheap excuse – she was not too young – but he didn’t know how to explain it, and he wasn’t sure he wanted his little girl to know… Would she be upset? She didn’t seem upset though…

He finally settled for the dumbest answer of all. “It’s complicated.”

“Was it also complicated when you met Bill? You know… when you were my age?” She asked slyly, well knowing at what age Tom had started boarding school.

Tom sent her a scorning look. “Yes. And I don’t actually want to tell you about this.”

“You know… I read in one of your ‘child advicey’ books that you’re always supposed to be honest to your kids,” she said wisely.

“I am honest! I just told you I don’t want to tell you!” Tom crossed his arms defensively; sometimes this child drove him crazy.

“Withholding the truth is also lying!” Hale accused, though he had the feeling she was entertained by this.

“Not when it comes to child education it isn’t,” Tom countered.

“But you do know that if you don’t tell me, I’ll just make up my own version of what happened. Do you want to hear my version?” She asked excitedly.

“God no, please spare me,” Tom muttered. He had heard a few of her psychotic versions of random things over the years, and this really wasn’t something he wanted to hear in her version… Maybe he really should tell her… But then he would probably have to pay a shrink for the next ten years… He couldn’t afford that.

Oh, why hadn’t he paid better attention as to where he had put those pictures?!

 


	3. Chapter 3

“Okay so here’s my version!” Hale continued, clapping her hands while Tom groaned, carrying the box upstairs to their apartment over the shop. “You and Bill fell in love at first sight!” If only… “And you were childhood sweethearts and perfect for each other and destined to be!” If only… “But then Bill got kidnapped by aliens and you went on a rescue mission where you met mom and then there was a crazy love triangle and you were torn between them but then Bill was infected with an alien virus and you had to kill him or the entire human race would have perished! And you were all heartbroken but mom was always there for you and then you married her because Bill was dead and then you lived happily ever after! At least… until mom died…” She finished thoughtfully while Tom stared at her.

“That’s not what happened,” he said unnecessarily, though she was closer to the truth than she might have thought.

“So what happened then?” Hale asked softly; completely different from her ridiculous ramble a moment ago.

Tom gave her a skeptical look. “I think I would rather tell you when you’re a little older.”

“Why? Because you forgot what you were like when you were my age? Did you know that a couple of years ago girls my age already got married and had kids?” She crossed her arms pointedly.

“That was more than ‘a couple of years’ ago,” he said drily.

“I think the main problem between the generations is that grown-ups consider children stupid and children consider grown-ups daft… It’s a lack of communication, really. If we take a look at children nowadays, there’s hardly a difference to the way grown-ups used to be. I blame social media. But kids nowadays know more than most grown-ups knew a couple of years ago – they just don’t talk about it with their parents cuz that would be weird,” she finished her declaration with a firm nod.

“Yes. Very weird. So let’s not go there.” Tom well remembered that; he also knew and did a whole lot more than he had ever let his parents know. But like Hale said… talking to his parents about it would have been weird.

“So what happened?” Hale had obviously completely ignored his last comment.

Tom sighed heavily, setting up some water to make noodles; he didn’t have the energy to cook something elaborate today. “Your mom was just like you when she was young; a total psycho… Actually she never stopped being like that.” He chuckled at the memory of his crazy wife.

Hale smiled softly. “Really? How come you barely ever talk about her?” she asked carefully. Tom usually tried to avoid the subject for a number of reasons; the main ones being that he didn’t want to think about it, and that he didn’t want to upset his daughter… And that he was afraid to slip up on the Bill subject…

“It’s complicated,” he muttered again, receiving a smile and roll of eyes from his daughter.

“Try me,” she said quietly, helping him by setting the table.

He gave her a sideways glance; would she be upset? Hale was such a weird kid, it was sometimes hard to tell how she would react to things. “Why did you ask if I was gay earlier?”

Hale shrugged. “You were kissing a guy on a picture – doesn’t that mean you’re gay?”

“No. Actually it doesn’t. There could have been a million reasons for that picture,” Tom pointed out.

“And you’ve never shown your interest in _any_ of the women I’ve tried to set you up with over the past few years,” she continued.

“That’s doesn’t prove anything!” Tom said outraged, well remembering some of those humiliating scenes. “Have I ever shown an interest in men? No. So there.”

“Hm… You’re right. You need to get out more, dad. I mean seriously, have you even gotten laid since mom died?”

“Hale!” Tom squawked. “That’s none of your business!”

Hale gave a calm nod. “So you haven’t.”

“Enough!” Tom growled, stuffing the noodles into the pot with such force that he nearly spilled some of the boiling water. “Stop with the ridiculous assumptions!”

“Were you and Bill in love?” Hale continued, ignoring his comments.

Tom gave up with a tragic sigh as he slumped into the chair. “Hale… Are these things you actually want to know? Because… You know that if I tell you something, you can’t unhear it, right? Is this really something you want to know about me?”

“Of course I do,” she said immediately.

“Really? Because if my father were gay, I’m not sure I would have wanted to know at your age and-”

“So you _are_ gay!” Hale clapped her hands happily. “That explains _so_ much!”

“What?” Tom asked in disbelief. “Like what?” He wasn’t really the obvious gay type, was he?

“Like the fact that you never pay any attention to any of the cute women who shop here and shamelessly flirt with you while you’re all whatevering them. And you own a flower shop…”

“I’m widowed! And a lot of straight guys own flower shops!” Tom defended.

“Yeah right – like who? And mom died almost 10 years ago… I’m sure she would be okay with you moving on meanwhile…” She added softly.

Tom was about to argue to flower comment, but forgot about it again. “And you? Would you also be okay with that?” he asked quietly. It’s not like he even wanted to date all that much but… well… maybe… Did he?

Hale gave him one of those ‘grown up looks’ that freaked him out a bit. “Come on, dad… I just want you to be happy. I also don’t think mom would want you to be bitter, lonely and pathetic like this.”

“Hey,” Tom said with a soft chuckle. “I’m not that bitter and pathetic.”

“But lonely,” Hale countered with a sad smile. “That’s why I’ve been trying to set you up so often, but you never go for it… Why not? Cuz you’re gay?” She asked with a small smile.

“Will you stop riding around on that?!” He asked annoyed, but she just gave him one of those annoying, calm nods.

“As soon as you explain who Bill is, or was.”

Tom groaned loudly, getting up to stir the noodles. “Bill was… Like you said… My boyfriend. And yes,” he continued before she managed to say something, “I’m gay.” That was probably not the best way to break it to her, but how else did you go about this with such a weird child?

 


	4. Chapter 4

“I knew it,” Hale grinned while Tom gave her a disturbed look.

“And you’re okay with that?” He asked skeptically.

“Of course I am,” she shrugged, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because I’m your father and I just told you I like to have sex with men.” That was probably not the most sensitive way to say it, but he really needed to make sure she actually knew what they were talking about here.

“Which is awesome because that means I’m never going to have an evil stepmother whose daughters will treat me like a servant after your death!” She said dramatically.

“Um… right.” He nodded slowly.

“So how come you married mom? She was a girl, right?” Hale asked confused.

Tom gave her a disturbed look. “Yes, she was a girl, Hale. Because… She was... my Wendy,” he said slowly, not knowing how to explain it.

“What?” Hale was more confused than before.

“It’s a long story…” He said thoughtfully, glancing down into the pot of noodles.

“I got time!”

Tom made a noncommittal sound in his throat as he glanced at the clock that indicated 7:14. Maybe a bit of time… “Um… Well… It all started when me and Bill became friends. The school I went to, you know Tonbridge, is an all-boys boarding school.”

Hale giggled. “I don’t even wanna know what was going on there when the lights went out,” she grinned suggestively.

Tom stared at her, having a mental flashback of a very similar comment from Wendy nearly 25 years ago. “Um… right…” He said slowly, trying not to laugh. “Anyway… Your mother lived with her grandmother in Tonbridge – the town, not the school grounds. Her grandmother worked at the school as a maid, and Wendy sometimes went with her to help her. All the boys had a crush on Wendy because she was amazing… And the only girl around,” he added with a laugh.

Hale also laughed a bit and retrieved the green pesto sauce from the shelf while Tom began sieving the noodles.

“I met her on my first week there. We became really good friends despite her being three years older than me. But I became super popular because I was friends with her, and all the boys envied me… They all thought we were dating…”

“Were you?” Hale asked excitedly while Tom dumped the noodles on two plates.

“Of course not. She was way too old for me! She was 15! I was only 12…”

Hale giggled. “Oh yeah. So old.”

Tom chuckled, beginning to eat. “That wasn’t really the reason though… I was in love with Bill.”

“So you were dating Bill already?” Hale asked as she began stuffing her mouth with spaghetti.

“I wish,” Tom sighed tragically. “No, because Bill was head over heels in love with Wendy.”

“What?” Hale asked loudly, letting a few noodles fall from her mouth.

“Yes… It was a perfect, useless triangle. I was in love with Bill; Bill was in love with Wendy; Wendy was in love with me… And we all knew it, but never talked about it.”

Hale gasped dramatically. “So what happened?”

“Um…” Tom hesitated a bit, unsure if he should really let her in on all this. He hadn’t actually talked to anyone other than Bill and Wendy about any of it.

“How did you end up with mom? But you were with Bill, right? Oh my god! Was Bill ever with mom?!” She asked in a dramatic rush.

“Um… Yes.” He nodded slowly.

“Yes to which of those?” She asked confused.

“All of them… We were all together… Like… um…” Was it really wise to tell his daughter about this?

“A threesome?” Hale asked with a disturbingly wicked grin.

“How do you even know that word?!” Tom coughed, having choked on a noodle.

“Eh,” Hale shrugged carelessly. “How did that happen?!” She continued excitedly.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Tom muttered drily.

“Oh come on, dad! Tell me the dirty details!” She grinned psychotically.

“No!” Tom scolded outraged.

“Why not?” She whined.

“Ugh… There are no dirty details,” he lied.

“Uh-huh,” she said disbelievingly. “Fine, don’t tell me the totally dirty details, but at least how you got together! How does something like that even happen? I mean… If you weren’t in love with her, and she wasn’t in love with Bill who wasn’t in love with you, how did you all end up together?”

Tom sighed. “It happened on Wendy’s 16th birthday…”

“When you were, how old? 13?” Hale grinned.

“…Almost, yeah.”

“Oh my god, and you think I’m too young to hear it? I’m almost 12!” She accused with a laugh.

“Whatever!” Tom shook his head.

“So what happened?” Hale giggled between her food.

“Um… Well… The three of us went to her grandmother’s house on the afternoon of her birthday. She had stolen some of her grandmother’s booze and… Whatever, never mind about that,” he added quickly as he noticed the mischievous grin on his daughter’s face; she would so use this against him later, he knew it. “Anyway… So we were all in her room and… The thing is… Well… Wendy was slightly psychotic – kinda like you.”

“Hey!” Hale laughed.

“Don’t try to deny it. It’s genetic.” Tom nodded firmly while Hale continued laughing. “Anyway… You know all those dirty, gay mangas you have hidden under your bed? Well, your-”

“What?” Hale shrieked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Uh-huh.” Tom gave her a dry look. “You bought them over my amazon – I got the bills for those.”

“That’s not my fault! They don’t sell them to me in bookstores,” she defended with a pout.

“Yes, because they are 16+ and you’re not supposed to read them,” he accused.

“As if you had nothing dirty to hide under your bed when you were my age!” She pointed an accusing finger at him.

 


	5. Chapter 5

  
"Anyway!" Tom really didn't want to tell her about the things he had indeed been hiding under his bed at her age. "My point was that our story takes place nearly 25 years ago, and back in that day, we didn't have internet or easy access to gay porn."

"Those mangas are totally censored," Hale cut in.

"Whatever. The point! Is that... What was I talking about?" He asked slowly, having completely forgotten what he was trying to say. This conversation was slightly disturbing and he had trouble concentrating.

"You were going to tell me whatever naughty things you were doing on mom's 16th birthday."

"Ah yes. Wait what? No... We weren't doing anything naughty..." Tom said slowly, trying to determine whether it would be considered naughty or not... Maybe... Probably. Most likely. For sure. "So the point is that your mother was a total psycho who didn't own any manga books but was, just like you, disturbingly obsessed with gay boys – heaven knows why, you're all crazy – and as birthday present, wanted me and Bill to kiss while she watched." Tom didn't miss the disturbing smirk, but didn't comment on it because he could imagine what the girl was thinking right now.

"Did you?" Hale grinned, trying to contain her laughter.

"Um... Well... It was a complicated situation – I knew that Bill would much rather have liked to have his first kiss with her, rather than me... So I said I would agree if afterwards she and Bill would kiss... Bill of course knew that she would much rather have her first kiss with me rather than him, so he agreed if after that, she could kiss me... And that's what happened," he finished his twisted tale. It had been so much more complicated and elaborate in reality... Now it sounded ridiculous and childish... Of course it had been, but still. This sounded so much dumber than it really had been... Or maybe it just hadn't seemed so silly to him at the time because he had been 12...

Hale was laughing quietly throughout his entire story and grinned at him once he was done. "And then what?"

Tom sighed, finishing his noodles. "And then... And then friendship slowly turned into attraction, and before I knew it, I was also in love with Wendy... Because at the end of the day, that's what love is: looking past your initial view and accepting someone for who they are, even if they aren't exactly what you initially wanted. I'm not actually attracted to women... Never have been and never will be, but she will always be my one exception. She will always be my Wendy... And I know that the same went for Bill. He's not actually into men, but I know that he was in love with me nonetheless because I was his one exception."

"So the three of you were actually together? In a relationship?" Hale asked stunned.

"Yes. For almost 12 years..." Tom said softly, remembering those years. They had been the best years of his life; with both Wendy and Bill by his side. How dearly he missed both of them... It made his heart ache just thinking about it.

"What happened then?" Hale asked softly, obviously having noticed the change in his mood.

"Then... Well... After Bill and I graduated from Tonbridge, the three of us moved to Oxford to study, but things were kinda complicated because Bill came from a very wealthy family, and they hated me and Wendy... They said we were a bad influence. Of course they had no idea we were in a three-way relationship – they thought Bill and Wendy were together, and I was just a friend of Bill's. Though looking back on it, maybe they suspected because we were inseparable? I don't know... Either way, when Wendy finished her PhD in bio-chemistry, we all went to Bill's home to celebrate, at which point Bill got into a huge fight with his father... I'm not exactly sure what went on, but it was about our friendship, and Bill's father told him he had to choose between Wendy and me, and his inheritance. Bill decided to go with his inheritance, and left us..." Tom swallowed, still remembering the morning he found Bill's good-bye letter.

"That's it?" Hale asked in disbelief. "After 12 years he left you for money?!"

"It's not that simple, Hale..." Tom tried sadly, though he was also still angry at Bill for that.

"Of course it is! He dumped you for money! How could he do that?!" She asked angrily.

"Hale... Bill's family owns a giant beverage company worth millions of pounds. If his family had disinherited him, he would have been penniless; his decision was logical," he defended even though he agreed with Hale. At least his heart did – his mind still understood Bill, as painful as it may be.

"I don't care. Bill is a total jerk!" Hale glared at the few noodles left on her plate. "I hope he regrets it!"

Tom smiled softly; he had also often wished that, even though he knew how immature that was. "It's getting late. I still need to clean up downstairs. Why don't you go brush your teeth and I'll be up in 10 minutes to tuck you in?"

"What? I can't sleep now! I'm too upset!" Hale shook her head, finishing the rest of her noodles that had probably already gone cold.

"Alright fine... How about we watch a movie before going to bed?" He suggested.

" _Sweeney Todd_?!" Hale asked excitedly, clapping her hands.

"Not that," Tom said drily, beginning to rinse their plates.

"But you said I could watch it with you!" She argued with a pout.

"You just watched that... Why not something else?"

"Hm... How about  _Dracula_?" She suggested with her typical, creepy excitement.

"No," Tom sighed.

" _Van Helsing_?"

"No, Hale..."

" _Interview with a vampire_?!"

"No!" Tom groaned. "Why don't we watch something like  _Frozen_? I've heard that one's really nice."

"...Yeah. No. Besides, we don't even own that one," Hale shook her head in disapproval. "How about  _Blade_? I haven't seen it yet!"

"And you're not going to see it now either. That movie is not suitable for children!" Tom scolded, crossing his arms and putting on his best 'strict parent face'.

"Fine, I'll just watch it when you're not home then." She shrugged.

"Hale!!"

 


	6. Chapter 6

Bill exited the limousine that had dropped him off at his office, where he was immediately greeted by his secretary Natalie.

“Good morning, Mr. Kaulitz. Here is this week’s sales report,” she handed him the folder before continuing, “Your 9 o’clock appointment is here and your mother called. She wants to meet you for lunch. Shall I move your lunch meeting with Remy Martin to tomorrow, sir?”

“At what time is my meeting with Martin?” Bill asked calmly, looking over the week’s report. They had a steady rise so obviously their deal with Martin was working well.

“At 12:30,” Natalie informed him.

“What have I got after that?” Bill asked, taking a peek at her calendar.

“Nothing until 15:00, then you have an appointment with marketing,” she showed him.

Bill nodded. “I’ll hurry the lunch with Martin. Set my mother up for 14:00.” He really didn’t feel like meeting his mother right now – or at any other point really – but he had put her off so often lately that he was starting to feel guilty so he might as well get it over with.

“Yes, sir.” Natalie wrote it down in her calendar as they rode up the elevator to the top floor where Bill’s office was located.

While Bill walked to his office, Natalie told him his schedule for the day, just like every day, and his assistant Andreas was already standing at the door to Bill’s office, holding his coffee.

“Thanks, Andy,” Bill nodded at him.

“Anything else, Mr Kaulitz?” Andy asked while Natalie departed to arrange the lunch with Bill’s mother.

“Not currently, thank you.” Bill gave him a court nod and entered his office, only to pause dead. “What the hell is that?” He asked Andreas who had apparently waited for that reaction.

“I don’t know,” he said with a hint of excitement in his voice. “It was delivered just a few minutes before you arrived.” Why was Andy so happy about this?

Now that Bill looked around, he saw almost every employee who was already in, staring over at him. How uncomfortable…

“Right.” Bill gave another polite nod, entering his office and shutting the door to cut the view from all the curious onlookers. He hated this kind of attention.

Suspiciously, he approached the giant bouquet of at least two dozen white roses that sat on his desk. It was actually the first time he had ever gotten flowers… It gave him an unusual feeling in his stomach. What was up with that?

On top of the bouquet there was a small gift tag. Carefully, Bill opened it to reveal a computer written text:

 _I hold your letter in my frozen hand_  
The last line was long, as long as it burns my look carries on  
With every word another feeling dies  
I’m left here in the dark  
No memories of you  
I close my eyes

Bill stared at the writing, reading it over a few times. What the hell was that? Who had sent that?

He turned the gift tag over, but there was nothing there other than the delivery shop name: _Hale’s._

“Mr Kaulitz?” Natalie interrupted him, nearly giving him a heart attack. “Your 9 o’clock is waiting, sir,” she reminded him quietly.

“Uh… Right. Yes… Of course.” Bill nodded absently. “Send them in, please.”

 

As hard as Bill tried, he was unable to take his mind off the bouquet in his room that day. Not only because he thought it was a very romantic gesture, but mostly because of that letter. Who had written that? And why? It sounded so sad… Bill had never gotten a ‘secret admirer’ letter before, in case that’s what it was. Maybe it was just one of the G’s screwing with him? No way… they wouldn’t do that. Or would they? They had never done anything like that before, but Bill couldn’t come up with another explanation because actually believing it was from a real secret admirer was too stupid. He didn’t even know anyone…   
Maybe it had been delivered to the wrong address?

 

By the end of the week, Bill had found out that it hadn’t been either of his friends, so he had put the whole flower incident off as a mistake and forgotten all about it. Or at least almost forgotten.   
Alright, so he hadn’t forgotten about it, but he tried not to think about it because it was stupid.

 

 

~*~

“Hale?” Tom asked curiously, coming to the back of the shop where Hale was arranging a bouquet. “Who’s that for? I didn’t find any order again; you need to write these down, Hale.” He checked through the little book in which they wrote their orders down.

“Oh, I forgot. Sorry,” Hale dismissed with a shrug.

“What arrangement is that? Is that even in our catalogue?” Tom asked stunned at the beautiful decoration. Hale was very inventive when it came to floral arrangements.

“No, I’m trying out something new!” She said excitedly, clapping her hands.

“Alright then.” Who was he to impend his child’s creativity, after all. “Hey, what’s that?” He asked, reaching for a small, blue notebook that lay on the table next to Hale.

“Nothing!” Hale snatched away the notebook before he reached it. “It’s my diary!” She beamed happily. “You’re not allowed to read it!”

Tom chuckled. “Okay, I won’t read it.” Kids were so funny. He remembered back when he had been so young – he had also made a huge deal out of rubbish like diaries. “I also had one like that once. Looked just like it!” He had always written all his ‘secrets’ in them… Especially after Bill had left him, and after Wendy had passed away. It had been his only outlet and he had written down all his pain and misery.

“Oh, really?” Hale asked while she continued with her arrangement.

“Yup. No idea what happened to it though,” he shrugged. “I’m going to water the flowers and then we can go upstairs for dinner when you’re done. Is your arrangement for tomorrow?”

“Yes. With overnight delivery. It’s going to London!” She said excitedly.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

“London… Is that for the same person who ordered the arrangement last week?” It wasn’t every day they delivered to London; not because it was far from Tonbridge but because London had a hundred flower shops so no one really ordered from here.

“Yup!” Hale smiled brightly.

“Oh… Alright. How much are you charging? These bouquets are pretty big.” Tom tried to let Hale handle things on her own because it made her independent and responsible, but sometimes he had to check to make sure she was doing things at least remotely right.

“The first one was $60 for the two dozen roses; the second $95 for the lily and rose the arrangement because it’s very elaborate.” She nodded firmly.

Tom was impressed. “Okay then.”

“Hey dad,” she stopped him just as he was about to head back to water the flowers. “I was wondering… When did you and mom break up with Bill?”

Tom paused. “Oh… um… almost 12 years ago, why?”

“Just wondering.” Hale shrugged with a smile.

Tom nodded slowly. “I’ll go water the flowers.”

Hale nodded as Tom left, lost in memories of Bill. What ever happened to him? Was he still alive? Did he still live in England?

Ever since they had cleaned out the basement two weeks ago, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. Well… He always thought about him, simply because it was part of his life, just like Wendy, but now it was different. Now it was an acute, incisive thinking that wouldn’t stop and was driving him nuts.   
Especially because he currently had so much to do with the basement renovation that was drowning him in bills he couldn’t afford; this had been such a terrible idea.

At this point he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to buy groceries the next month; hopefully they would have a few good sales or he would have to take out a loan…

 

Just as he was done watering and returned to the back of the store, the delivery service picked up Hale’s bouquet and then they headed upstairs to eat noodles with pesto; they didn’t have much else at the moment.

“I hope that mysterious client of yours buys a few more bouquets – we could really use the money right now,” Tom commented while they ate.

“Oh,” Hale said slowly. “Yeah. Because of the renovation, right?”

Tom sighed with a nod. “I’m sure it’ll get better soon.” He smiled reassuringly. He hated telling her that they had financial worries; it made him feel totally useless and like a bad parent, even though he knew she understood.  
He had ended up cleaning out the basement himself because the companies who offered such services were so expensive that he had decided against it, and a few days ago the renovations had started, but given the bad condition of the basement, there was a lot to be done.

The rest of the evening was spent with Tom preparing the flower orders for the following week while Hale sat quietly in a corner with her little blue book until she nearly fell asleep and stated that she would now be going to bed.

Tom also got up, about to fall asleep as well and followed her into the small bathroom to brush his teeth.

“Where’s my toothbrush?” he asked confused, finding his cup empty.

“Oh, I threw it away,” Hale said with a shrug as she began brushing her teeth.

“What? Why?” Tom asked confused.

“Because toothbrushes need to be changed regularly cuz otherwise they’re covered in poop!” Hale explain through her brushing.

Tom rolled his eyes. “First of all… that’s just a myth, I think, and even if it’s not a myth, then it only counts for bathrooms that have an included toilet. Ours is down the hall, so there is no way for that happening anyway. I had just opened that toothbrush a few weeks ago…” he whined.

“Here’s a new one!” Hale said brightly, holding up a packaged toothbrush.

Tom sighed. “Whatever.”

 

 

~*~

With a quiet yawn, Bill exited the limo like every day. Just another Monday… He hated Mondays. Of course – everyone hated them. But today he hated them more than usual because one week ago he had gotten those roses and now he was depressed because they had been delivered to the wrong address.

Of course he knew he was being ridiculous – he didn’t even care about flowers, but he was still somewhat jealous of whoever was getting disturbing, romantic poems with lots of flowers. His life was completely devoid of any romance. It was really pathetic.

Just like every day, Natalie read him his schedule for the day on his way to the office where Andreas was waiting with his coffee and an eager look on his face.

Bill’s stomach twisted as he opened the door to find another giant bouquet on his desk. This time it had red roses, white lilies and some green stuff. Bill had never really been much into flowers, but this had to be one of the prettiest bouquets he had ever seen.

“Andreas,” he said slowly, turning to his assistant.

“Yes, sir?” Andy asked, while the entire office was looking over again.

Bill cleared his throat. “What is that?”

“It appears to be a floral arrangement of lilies and roses, sir,” Andy stated.

Bill rolled his eyes. “I can see that. I meant what is it doing there?”

“I don’t know, sir. It arrived shortly before you got here.” Andreas shrugged helplessly.

Bill took a deep breath and then closed the door, trying to ignore the giggling and whispering from his employees.

Just like last week, the flowers were from _Hale’s_ and had a note attached to them. Anxiously, Bill opened the folded paper that had the same, cursive, computer writing on it as last time, but with a new message.

 _It’s killing me_  
We die when love is dead  
We lost a dream we never had  
The world in silence should forever feel alone  
Cause we are gone and we will never overcome  
It’s over now

Bill swallowed. He actually loved the writing even though it was sad and… creepy. Who was sending him this? Were they trying to freak him out?! Or… was this supposed to be romantic?   
He supposed that it could be taken as very sad and romantic in a certain way, but given he had no idea where it was coming from, it freaked him out a bit. What was going on here?!

 


	8. Chapter 8

“Hale, look what I got!” Tom said cheerfully as he arrived at the store where Hale was busy sweeping up leaves and petals.

“What?” She asked, immediately excited.

Tom held up the DVD with a bright smile. “We can watch it tonight!”

Hale’s excitement faded away. “Really? _Frozen_?” She asked disappointed.

“Oh come on. I’ve heard it’s the most popular kid’s movie right now,” he tried to persuade her, but Hale just made loud snoring sounds.

“Fine, I’ll watch it without you then,” he huffed.

“Does that mean I’m allowed to watch movies without you, too?” She asked with a wicked grin.

“No, that’s not what it means at all.”

“You’re so unfair,” Hale complained loudly, sweeping so aggressively that petals flew all over the place.

“And you’re so prejudicive! You don’t even know this movie!” Tom complained childishly.

“I’m pretty sure there’s no such word,” she said slowly.

“Who cares, you know what I mean.”

“Fine, let’s watch _Frozen_ … But afterwards we’re watching _Blade_!” She said excitedly.

“We are not doing that! You’re too young for that movie!” Tom argued.

“Nu-huh!” Hale countered.

“Yah-huh!” Tom replied in the same silly way.

“Nu-huh!”

“Yah-huh!”

“Excuse me?” A woman interrupted them, looking unsure and awkward.

“Oh, I’m sorry. What can I do for you, ma’am?” Tom cleared his throat, glaring daggers at Hale who was laughing quietly as she disappeared through the door to the back of the shop.

 

Once Tom was done tending to the last customer of the day, he locked up the shop and then went upstairs where Hale had already cooked noodles and was sitting on the couch with that little blue notebook she always had lately; what was up with that?

“I cooked!” She announced as she saw him.

“Yes, smells great!” He said cheerfully, despite it only being noodles again; he hated them meanwhile.

“So I was wondering…” She began as she served them noodles and Tom washed his hands.

“What?” He asked suspiciously.

“This Bill guy… You liked him a lot, right?” She asked casually – a little too casually. She was so up to something; Tom knew it.

“Yes, I did. Why?” What was she scheming now?

“What happened to him? Have you guys been in touch over the years?”

Tom sighed. “No… I haven’t spoken to him ever since. No idea whatever happened to him. I’m sure he’s very happy with all his money and… yeah…” He mumbled stupidly; this was the reason he didn’t want to talk about it. It made him act like an idiot.

“Would you want to see him again? Or talk to him?” She asked while slowly munching on her noodles; obviously she didn’t like them anymore either.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged slowly. “I wouldn’t really know what to say to him…”

“But you still like him, right?” She insisted.

Tom smiled. “Of course, but that part of my life is over.”

“Do you think he still likes you too?”

“I don’t know… I’m sure he doesn’t hate me. Things just didn’t work out, that’s all.” And he hated Bill for it. It was all his fault… They could have been so happy together… As happy as they had been before money got in the way.

Hale nodded. “I guess it really is complicated, huh?”

“Yes,” Tom nodded. “It really is.”

“So,” She continued cheerfully, obviously switching topics. “ _Blade_ tonight?”

“No, Hale. We’re watching _Frozen_ ,” he stated firmly.

“No, Hale. We’re watching _Frozen_ ,” she mimicked in a squeaky voice under hear breath, pulling a disgruntled face.

 

~*~

With a heavy sigh, Bill shut the door to his bedroom and kicked his shoes off. He had spent the entire day reading over business reports in an attempt to avoid his overbearing mother who had caught him as he tried to sneak into their mansion, and forced him to have dinner with her. Which lasted until 9pm because, just like always, she had a bunch of her girl-friends over who kept babbling about boring nonsense and made it impossible for him to leave without being totally impolite.

Just another Sunday.

With a quiet whine, he dropped down on his bed, closing his eyes for a moment before retrieving the notes that had been left in his office the past two Mondays. Tomorrow was Monday again…

By now he was quite sure it hadn’t been delivered to the wrong address, which made it all the more confusing. Did he really have a secret admirer out there? But who…? He didn’t know a single potential secret admirer…

 

That night, Bill slept terrible. He was anxious and couldn’t wait for the next morning to arrive so he could go to his office and see if someone had left flowers there for him again.

Once the limo finally dropped him off the next day, Bill stalked up to his office, barely paying attention to what Natalie was telling him. Would there be another bouquet for him today?

Judging by the looks and whispers he got from his employees, apparently so.

“Thank you Andy, that’ll be all,” he told his curious assistant and then entered his office which already hosted three large floral arrangements (two of which were beginning to wilt, but he really didn’t care), the newest one being a white gardenia arrangement with soft pink lilies. So cheesy. Bill loved it.

Nervously, he reached for the note; what would it say today?

 _I’m still awake for you_  
We won’t make it together  
We can’t hide the truth  
  
I’m giving up for you now  
My final wish will guide you out  
Before the ocean breaks apart underneath me

 _I know that one day we’ll meet again_  
Don’t turn around  
You can make it  
Never forget

_To me you’ll be forever sacred_

“Alright, that’s it,” Bill muttered, sitting down at his computer to check the internet for this _Hale’s_ store.

As much as he loved getting flowers and love notes, the notes were somewhat unsettling and reminded him a lot of how he himself felt. As a matter of fact, they could have been written by him… Who the hell was putting his feelings into words like this?! And why? And how did they even know he felt this way?

Was it a coincidence that whoever was writing this, knew how he felt about the whole Tom - Wendy issue?

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

“Hale’s floral arrangements, this is Hale speaking. How may I help you?”

“Hello,” Bill stuttered into the phone, unsure why he was nervous all of a sudden. “My name is Bill Kaulitz. On the past three Mondays I’ve received bouquets from your shop, but I don’t know who they are from, and I was wondering if you could tell me who’s placing these orders?”

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Kaulitz, but our clients’ privacy is very important to us and I’m afraid I can’t give out that kind of information,” the cheerful female voice said over the phone.

“What?” Bill asked outraged. “You’re a flower shop not a bank!”

“I’m very sorry, sir,” the woman said politely.

“Okay okay… Hale, right?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I have a bit of a situation here… Like I said, for three weeks I’ve been getting flowers and notes from your shop, but I don’t know who the sender is and it’s freaking me out. Could you please help me out here?” He asked as nicely as possible.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do for you, sir. I wish you a pleasant day!” She said cheerfully, hanging up before Bill could yell at her.

“Argh!” Bill growled frustrated, staring at the shop’s website. The shop was in Tonbridge… Why was a random shop in Tonbridge sending him flowers? Who did he know in Tonbridge? He hadn’t been there since high school…

The only person he could think of who had ever lived in Tonbridge had been Wendy, but… There was no way. They hadn’t had contact since… Since back then… Did she know how he still felt about her? Had she written those letters? No way… Had Tom…? Impossible.

“Mr. Kaulitz?” Natalie interrupted him. “The sales meeting started 10 minutes ago, sir.”

“Right,” Bill said absently, following her down to the meeting that he was unable to focus on.

Could it be that the flowers were from Wendy? No way… And what about Tom? Were they living in Tonbridge together? The mere thought made him burn with jealousy. There was no way either of them would be sending him flowers with such notes though, right? What did those notes even mean?

None of what that said made any sense to him… It spoke of… a lost love? A romance gone wrong? A broken heart? What was all that?  
Of course he knew plenty of it, but… somehow it was the wrong way around. He should be the one writing that to Wendy and Tom. In the unlikely case that it had anything to do with them… Probably not…

“Mr. Kaulitz?” David, his sales manager said loudly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” Bill asked stupidly, looking around the table at the worried looking occupants.

“Shall we proceed with stock splitting then?” David asked hesitantly.

“Oh, yes. Of course, go ahead.” Bill nodded, having been paying zero attention, but he trusted David so whatever the man thought was best, was most likely best so it was fine.

David nodded a bit concerned before dismissing the meeting, after which Bill immediately wanted to head back to his office but was held up by Georg.

“Hey Bill, wait up,” Georg ran after him from the meeting. “Are you alright?”

Bill sighed. “Yeah, fine.” He nodded, continuing to walk as soon as Georg had caught up with him.

“Does this have anything to do with those flowers?” Georg asked a bit amused.

“Do you know anything about that?” Bill asked with a frown.

“No,” Georg shook his head. “You haven’t even told me whom they’re from.”

“I don’t know who they’re from… I think maybe Wendy or something… Though that’s crazy…” He muttered, more to himself than Georg.

“Who’s Wendy?” Asked Gustav, butting into their conversation out of nowhere.

“Oh um… She’s um… Old flame,” Bill mumbled slowly. He had been friends with Georg and Gustav for a long time but he had never spoken to them about Wendy and Bill… He had never told anyone about them…

“Old flame?” Georg asked with a grin. “And now she’s sending you flowers? That sounds hot. Are you meeting up with her?”

“No!” Bill glared angrily. “I don’t even know if they’re from her… Maybe it’s got nothing to do with her... I have no idea.”

The G’s exchanged a look. “Can’t you look her up on facebook and ask her or something?”

“I already tried that – she’s not on and neither is To-” Bill bit on his tongue.

“And neither is _who_?” Gustav asked curiously.

Bill sighed. “Tom. An old friend of mine – the guy Wendy dumped me for,” he said bitterly.

“Ouch,” Georg muttered.

“Yeah,” Bill growled with a frown.

“So… what are we doing to find out if it’s from her?” Gustav asked, always planning stuff.

‘ _It could also be from him_ ,’ Bill thought drily. Maybe that was more likely… Tom had been crazy about him once upon a time… A time in which he had taken the man for granted… How could he have been so stupid? He still hated himself for it. “I’m going to Tonbridge,” Bill made up his mind.

“Tonbridge? Didn’t you go to school there?” Georg asked surprised.

“Yes… Wendy used to live there and the flowers are coming from there,” Bill nodded firmly. “Where’s Natalie? Natalie!” He called into the hall from which Natalie emerged a moment later.

“Sir?” She asked.

“Cancel my appointments for today. I need to take care of some personal issues.” Whatever this ridiculous thing was with the flowers, he would find out. Even if it wasn’t Wendy or Tom…

“But sir, we have the new financial quarter coming and all the firm meetings… And Martin has another meeting scheduled for today – they’re flying in from France.”

“Ugh…” Bill groaned. “Fine. When can I take some time off then?”

“Um…” Natalie searched through her calendar while Bill tapped his foot on the floor impatiently. “On the weekend would be good.”

“What? Are you kidding? It’s Monday!” Bill said exasperatedly.

“I’m afraid so, sir.” Natalie nodded.

“Maybe I could just go in the evening… No wait, it would be closed… Great,” Bill mumbled mostly to himself as he returned to his office with the Gs who exchanged worried glances.

 

 

And so, Bill had to wait until the end of the week.

But of course, just as he was about to leave on Saturday morning, the Gs showed up.

“Not right now, guys. I’m driving over to Tonbridge,” Bill said the moment his only two friends stepped out of the car.

“We’re going with you,” Gustav said immediately.

“We are?” Georg asked lazily. “I thought we just came over to have lunch,” he whined.

“Yes, we are,” Gustav said firmly, getting into the car Bill had been about to get into.

Georg sighed. “So this chick… Wendy… What’s the deal with her?” he asked as they got into the car after Bill and Gustav.

Bill frowned at the ‘chick’ comment but said nothing about it as the car set into motion. “We met while I was in school in Tonbridge.”

“I thought that was an all-boys school?” Gustav asked confused.

“It was. She was the granddaughter of one of the maids who worked there… And all the boys were in love with her…Unless they were gay, of course,” he added drily.

The G’s laughed. “And you dated her? Man… I didn’t even know you dated people. We always kinda thought you were asexual or something,” Georg said with an impressed nod.

“What?!” Bill asked in disbelief. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Well you know… We’ve known you for over 10 years and so far, you’ve never dated a single person – it’s kinda weird, man,” Georg said with a shrug while Gustav nodded in agreement.

 


	10. Chapter 10

“Just because I’m not a serial dater like you two, doesn’t mean I’m asexual!” Bill snapped in annoyance.

“Okay, okay,” Georg lifted his hands in surrender. “So what’s the story with her?”

Bill sighed heavily. “Well… I really liked her as a kid… And later on… But she was in love with my ex best friend, Tom, back then.”

“Harsh,” Gustav sympathized, patting his shoulder.

“Wait, I thought you were with her, and then she dumped you for this Tom dude?” Georg asked confused.

“No… Well… Sort of. I was with her for a while… ten years,” he muttered stupidly; he wasn’t sure if telling them that he had also been with Tom was such a good idea.

“Ten years?!” Both G’s asked shocked.

“Yeah,” Bill mumbled sadly.

“What the heck happened?” Georg asked, clearly still shocked.

Bill shrugged. “She left me… She said our relationship wasn’t working anymore because she was actually in love with Tom, and though it had been fun with me, she would rather be with him…” Just talking about it nearly made Bill cry as he remembered the letter she had left on his bed before disappearing with Tom. How could they have betrayed him like that?   
Of course he knew the relationship they had been in was crazy, but it had been working. It had been working amazingly well and it had been all he had ever wanted… But obviously they didn’t think so… Backstabbing assholes… Bill hated them.

“I’m sorry, man,” Georg said gently. “How come you never told us about her?”

Bill shrugged. “I didn’t know what to say.” It was actually because he had been afraid to let the thing with Tom slip… Tom… that jerk who had always claimed to love him and then broken his heart… He missed him so much…

Ever since Wendy and Tom had left him, he hadn’t been able to trust anyone ever again and had refused to date again. No relationship could ever be better than the one had already had, but he had lost it and no matter what came along, it would pale in comparison. He simply had no desire to love anyone again. Also because he was terrified of being abandoned like that again; after all, if not even his two best childhood friends could be trusted, no one could.

 

The drive took around an hour, after which the limo finally stopped in front of the small, quaint flower shop named _Hale’s._

Suddenly Bill was nervous. What if it really was from Wendy and/or Tom?

“You guys wait here,” Bill instructed as he got out of the car.

“Can we go for some lunch meanwhile? I haven’t had breakfast yet,” Georg complained.

“Shush,” Gustav rolled his eyes. “We’ll wait here, Bill. Take all the time you need.”

Bill nodded slowly, taking a deep breath before entering the small shop. It smelled like flowers. Duh.

The bell above the door made a small chiming sound, alerting that he had entered, and he waiting a moment before a little girl suddenly came out of the back of the shop.

“Hello,” Bill said awkwardly at the girl who beamed up at him.

“Hello. What can I do for you?” She asked cheerfully. Bill recognized the voice from the phone. Seriously? Who let a little girl operate a shop?

“I’m looking for… um… a grown up? Maybe?” He asked hesitantly.

The girl made a skeptical face, crossing her arms. “Why? You think selling flowers is too difficult for me?” She asked a bit miffed.

“No. No, that’s not what I meant,” he said quickly. “I think we spoke on the phone? I’m Bill Kaulitz… I’ve been getting flowers from your shop but I don’t know who the sender is?” Why was he talking to a child? Ugh. Bill hated kids.

“Ah yes,” she smiled. “Did you like the flower arrangements? I made them,” she continued happily.

“Oh… really?” Bill asked a bit stunned; they had indeed been very nice. “Wow, that’s pretty impressive. I honestly didn’t think they were made by a… How old are you, 5, 6?”

The girl pursed her lips with a dry look. “I’m 11.”

“Oh… that’s old.” Bill nodded. He was bad at judging ages.

“Excuse me?” The girl asked shrilly.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Of course you’re not old – you’re just a little kid… I mean…” This was not going well. “I’m very sorry,” Bill apologized politely. “I’m not very good with children.”

“I can see that…” the girl nodded slowly.

Bill sighed. “Anyway… As I said on the phone, I’m trying to find the sender of those cards.”

“Why?” the girl named Hale asked curiously. God, kids were such a pain.

“Because the messages are rather disturbing and I’d like to know who’s sending them to me.” Nosy brat…

The girl hesitated for a moment before replying. “I sent them.”

Bill nodded. “Okay great, who placed the order for them?”

Apparently Hale was debating whether to answer or not, but finally she did. “A guy named Tom.”

Bill took in a sharp breath. Tom. “Oh. I see. Do you happen to have his address written down somewhere? I’d really like to contact him.” Of course he could do a bit of research and try to find him, but this might be a whole lot easier. Especially because Tom hadn’t been anywhere on any social networks under his name.

“What do you want it for?” She asked.

Bill wanted to yell at her. “He’s an old friend of mine but I don’t know where he’s currently living so you’d be doing me a huge favor by telling me.”

“Oh… how come you aren’t friends anymore?”

Bill’s eye twitched. “That’s a bit too complicated for an 11-year-old. Could you please just give me his address?” No wonder he had never wanted kids…

“We have all addresses written down somewhere… But our cataloging system is too complicated for 11-year-olds. I’m afraid I can’t help you,” she smiled sweetly, giving him an innocent look.

Bill thought his head was about to explode. “Alright… fine…” He growled. “We lost touch because, after being in a relationship with him and a woman named Wendy for ten years, the two of them suddenly dumped me because they were tired of our ‘twisted’ relationship and wanted something more ‘normal’. Which is why I’m quite surprised that I’m suddenly getting flowers and random poems from Tom. What happened? Did Wendy also dump him and now he wants to get back together with me, or what?!” Bill asked angrily, glaring at the stunned girl.

“Um, I’ll ask my dad…” She said slowly, retreating into the back of the shop. “Dad? Can you come up here for a second?” She called at someone.


	11. Chapter 11

Bill sighed. Hopefully she wouldn’t tell her father about this… Otherwise that would be really awkward.

A moment later she came back out. “I think he’s not here,” she said slowly. “He might be upstairs.”

Bill nodded. “Ok, well I really just need Tom’s address, if you could please give it to me?” he asked in defeat.

The girl nodded slowly. “Do you have children?” She asked suddenly.

Bill laughed weakly. “No. I’m not really the parent type.”

She smiled. “Yeah… So Wendy… Do you still like her?” She continued randomly; well this was rather inappropriate.

“Uh…” Was he seriously going to talk to a random little girl about his emotional problems? “I don’t know… We haven’t seen each other in almost 12 years…”

“Oh…” She nodded. “Wendy died 10 years ago.”

Bill stared at her. “What?” He asked confused.

“Wendy Harrington… She died 10 years ago,” the girl said quietly.

Bill swallowed drily. Was this some kind of joke? “How do you know that?” He whispered, a horrid thought forming in his head. No way.

“She was my mother.”

Even though a million crazy thoughts ran rampant through his mind, he was unable to form a single sentence, and simply stared at the girl for a minute or so. “Oh,” He finally brought out.

“So… so….” He stuttered, trying to make sense of the situation. “Your father… is Tom,” he muttered softly.

“No,” she said quietly.

“Oh. It’s not?” Bill asked confused. Had Wendy also left Tom?

“No. It’s you.”

Bill nearly fell over. “What?” He asked confused. “What are you talking about? I’m not your father. That’s crazy. What the hell is this? Are you joking?!” He rambled in confusion.

“Things between you and Wendy ended on the 24th of February 2004. I was born on the 6th of November 2004, exactly 8 months and 11 days later,” she said slowly.

“But…” Bill muttered. “I… You… I mean… How do you know it’s me? It could also be… Tom,” he muttered stupidly.

“It’s not Tom – I have a DNA test that proves it – so that really only leaves you, unless my mother led a whole other life that no one knew anything about…” She shrugged.

“Wait wait…” Bill held his hand up. “So you actually know Tom then?”

The girl nodded. “Yeah, I know him.”

Bill took a deep, calming breath. “Okay fine… It’s not Tom… But that doesn’t mean it’s me either. It could be someone else…”

Hale frowned a bit. “Do you really believe that or is that just wishful thinking because you don’t want me as your child?”

Bill stared at the sad girl in front of him; he hadn’t really considered her feelings on the matter. “No, I… I don’t know… I’m sorry, this is all just a bit much for me right now… Wendy is dead?” He asked randomly, just now realizing this. “What happened? How? No one told me…”

“Yeah… It was in winter 2005… She was coming from the dentist and slipped on the icy parking lot where she hit her head and then my dad took her to the hospital because she had a bad headache in the evening. The hospital gave her painkillers and then sent her home again… The next morning she was dead.”

Bill didn’t know what to say. He felt sad and empty.   
Eventually he sat down on the small stool in the shop, staring at the colorful array of flowers around him. This was all way too much information for him to handle on such short notice. He had a daughter… With Wendy who had died long ago… And no one had bothered to tell him.

“I’m sorry,” Hale said quietly, standing in front of him with a crestfallen expression.

Bill nodded heavily. “So you’re my daughter…” He said stupidly.

Hale nodded. “I guess so.”

Bill just kept on nodding slowly. “I’m sorry about Wendy…” he mumbled, feeling his eyes stinging. Even though he had been so angry at her, he was overwhelmed by finding out about her death.

“Me too,” Hale said softly, coming another step closer and hugging him without a warning.

At first he felt compelled to pull away, but soon found the embrace comforting, even though it came from a complete stranger… Who was his and Wendy’s child… This was crazy.   
Mentally he shook his head as he returned the embrace, hugging the little girl who smelled alarmingly familiar. He knew that scent… It flooded his mind with memories of days long gone that nearly made him cry. How he missed those days…

“Wait a minute,” Bill mumbled suddenly, pulling away to look up at the girl standing in front of him. “You said Wendy had been taken to the hospital by your father?” He had just realized that now.

“Oh, yeah…” She said hesitantly.

“If Wendy died 10 years ago, who raised you?” Bill asked suspiciously. “Who owns this shop?”

The girl sighed. “Tom.”

Bill swallowed. “Tom,” he said slowly.

“Yeah… I always thought he was my father, and I think he might think that too, but a few weeks ago I found a bunch of pictures of you, Tom and Wendy. My dad- Tom, told me who you were… Inside the box there was also Tom’s old diary in which he wrote about you… I think he still really cares about you but was too scared to contact you due to what happened, so I decided to do it for him because… Well actually because I really wanted to meet you… But also because I thought maybe you guys wanted to talk or something… You had been friends for a long time and stuff, so I thought… Well… Um…” She finished slowly, giving him an unsure look.

Bill raised an eyebrow. Was she trying to imply something with that?! She had sent him a bunch of love notes from Tom’s diary, after all... Why would Tom even write that? His words were so beautiful… Why had he left him if that’s how he felt about him? It made no sense. And what the hell did that little girl even want from him?!

“Hello?” A familiar voice he hadn’t heard in years suddenly spoke up, paralyzing him. “Hale, what’s going on here?”

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

“Oh, hey,” Hale said a bit uncertain. “I got some… stuff that I need to do.” And with that, she disappeared into the back of the shop just as the man she had been talking to got up and turned around to face Tom. It was Bill. Tom blinked two or three times, just to make sure.

For a minute or two, they just stood there in silence staring at each other. Bill looked so old… No. So grown up. Obviously – they hadn’t seen each other in 12 years, but… Bill had always looked so young and wild. Now he looked so… un-wild. His crazy, spiked up, black hair was gone, replaced by a rather ordinary haircut that didn’t suit him at all, according to Tom. He looked so normal. So unlike him, and yet so… attractive.   
Tom wanted to slap himself. This was not the right moment to be thinking about such ridiculousness.

~*~

Bill’s throat was dry and he felt as if someone had placed a tremendous weight on his chest that made it difficult to breathe. He was so angry at Tom, he couldn’t even think straight. On top of having been dumped like that, he was now furious that Tom had raised his child. Not that Bill had wanted to do that, but still; he would have liked to know at least.   
Then he remembered that Tom might not even know it wasn’t his child… But still! Even an 11-year-old had figured it out – Tom should have paid better attention! And now he had the nerve to write him love letters and send him flowers?!

“What are you doing here, Bill?” Tom interrupted his angry brooding that suddenly converted to sadness as he heard the harsh tone.

~*~

It hadn’t been Tom’s intention to sound so rude, but he was so upset it had come out all wrong.

“I uh… I got your messages,” Bill said awkwardly.

“What messages?” Tom asked confused.

Bill frowned a bit. “The flowers and the notes.” He searched through his jacket for something and then handed him a few pieces of paper.

Tom raised an eyebrow; those were the gift tags they used for personalized notes. His stomach twisted painfully as he scanned over the words written there; he had written them years ago… In that old blue diary that looked just like the one Hale had lately… ‘ _Oh. Right…_ ’ he thought drily once his initial shock was over.

Bill cleared his throat awkwardly, giving him an expectant look.

“I didn’t send these,” Tom said abruptly, handing him back the papers.

“What?” Bill asked in disbelief. “Your d- that girl there,” he pointed to the back of the store, “said you had sent them.”

So he knew. “Yes, well, she lied. She sent you the notes, not me. I’m very sorry you had to come all the way down here,” he said in a rush, walking over to the door and opening it. “I’m afraid that was nothing but a silly child prank – I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m very sorry. Have a safe trip back home.” He gestured at the door, hoping Bill would get the hint.

Apparently he did, because he slowly walked out of the shop, looking confused and… sad? Why was he looking sad? Did he really regret having left him…?   
Whatever, it didn’t matter; Tom didn’t have time for this. Okay fine, he had time, but he just didn’t want to do this anymore; Bill had ripped his heart out once, he wasn’t about to make that same mistake again.

“Take care of yourself, Bill,” he said quietly as he closed the door, shutting Bill out of his life.

Bill didn’t attempt to say anything, so Tom locked the door, unwilling to see any customers at the moment. He had to talk to Hale.

~*~

Bill stared at the locked door, unsure what to do now. Tom had kicked him out… It was more than obvious he wanted nothing to do with him, so what could he say? Should he try to change his mind? Fight for him? But for what? Tom had made it very clear already 12 years ago that he wanted nothing more to do with him, so what was the point now?

The letters hadn’t been from Tom, but from… Bill’s daughter who had used Tom as an excuse to meet him…  No wonder he hated kids…

Crestfallen, he stalked back to the car and got in. “Let’s go home.”

“What happened? Did they tell you anything?” Georg asked concerned.

Bill sighed, shaking his head. “Wendy died ten years ago. I just want to go home. There’s nothing here for me.”

This was all too much for him. Too many feelings, too much information, too many memories. Seeing Tom had just reminded him of everything he had once had but lost, and it took all his self-control not to break down in front of his friends from whom he wished they hadn’t come with him.   
He knew that sooner or later he would have to deal with the Hale-issue, but right now he couldn’t. Right now he just wanted to go home and die in peace.

~*~

Angrily, Tom slammed the door to their apartment above the store and stalked into the living room where Hale gave him an apprehensive look.

“You’re grounded,” He snarled furiously.

“What? But-”

“Until you die!” Tom almost yelled. “Hale, how could you? What were you thinking?!” He placed his hands on his hips, glaring down at her.

“But you said you still liked him!” She defended.

“That doesn’t mean I wanted to see him again! How could you send him love notes in my name? From my diary! Where is it?!” He demanded fiercely.

“But he liked them!” She argued again.

“And who the hell paid for those three bouquets?” He shrieked, just now remembering this fact.

“I did… from my allowance,” she mumbled quietly.

Tom stared at her, suddenly feeling his anger vanishing. “Why?” He asked quietly. Hale barely got any allowance because Tom couldn’t really afford it so that must have been an entire year’s allowance for her.

She gave him a sad look and a weak shrug. “I read in your diary how much you missed him and how you felt about him, so I searched for his address and sent him what you wrote, since obviously you were too coward to do so….”

Tom sighed, running a hand over his face. “Hale… I haven’t written anything into that diary in almost 10 years… None of those things were meant for Bill’s eyes.”

“Why not? You wrote it about him, didn’t you?” She asked confused.

“Yes but… that doesn’t mean I ever wanted him to know. Bill made his choice-”

“It was a stupid choice. Maybe he regrets it!” Hale interrupted him in exasperation, throwing her hands up.

Could that be…? No way… But maybe…? Did he truly regret it? Did he still want to be with him…? What was that sad look when Tom sent him away? Was that why he had come? No wait… He had come without even knowing because the notes didn’t have his name on it… So basically he had just showed up because he got random notes from an unknown person and wanted to know who it was… Right?   
But what about his crestfallen expression…?!  
Tom was going crazy.

“Ugh. I don’t know, Hale…” He sighed. “I just don’t want to get involved with Bill anymore…”

“It’s not like you have to marry him!” Hale objected. “At least not right now… You could get to know him a bit first,” she added with a hopeful smile.

He gave her a dry look. “Right.”

 


	13. Chapter 13

Tom sighed heavily, dropping down on the couch next to Hale. “Don’t ever do something like that behind my back. Like, _ever_!” He groaned.

Hale shrugged. “Okay. So do we call Bill now?”

“I’m serious, Hale!” He said angrily, sitting up straighter so she would take him more seriously.

“If you weren’t such a coward, I wouldn’t have had to do that to begin with,” she stated firmly.

“He left me! What was I supposed to do?”

“Tell him he’s stupid and that you two are meant to be!” She clapped her hands together, making a cute face.

Tom rolled his eyes. “It’s not a movie, Hale.”

“Whatever. So do we call him?”

“I can’t call him - I don’t have his number.” It’s not like he would have called him if he had the number, right?

“I have it! He called the other day. Yay for caller ID!” She said enthusiastically, running over to the shelf to retrieve a piece of paper that she waved around frantically.

‘ _Great… I should have seen that coming_.’ He sighed. “And what am I supposed to say?”

“That you forgive him for being stupid and want to marry him,” She said with a firm nod.

“Yeah, no.” Tom rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to call him. I don’t even want to talk to him…”

“I don’t believe you.” Hale shook her head in determination. “According to what I know – and I know a lot thanks to your diary – you were devastated when Bill left you and you’re still crazy about him. I know it was also awful with mom, but unlike her, Bill is still alive, so stop wasting time! You’re destined to be together! Like Tristan and Isolde; Romeo and Juliet!”

“They were all dead in the end,” Tom said drily.

“But they’re immortal!” Hale countered dramatically.

“…Right. I’m going to bed.”

“…It’s 2pm,” Hale said slowly.

“Goodnight.”

 

~*~

“Bill, darling!”

Bill groaned internally as his mother caught him on the way up the staircase. “Yes, mother?” He asked politely, trying not to show her how down he was.

“I’m driving over to the club. Won’t you join me?” She asked cheerfully.

“I’m really not in the mood right now.” Country club and gossip was the last thing he wanted right now.

“Oh. Are you not feeling well?” She asked concerned, coming up the stairs to catch up with him. “Henry!” She barked loudly just before reaching him.

“I’m fine. Just tired…” Bill sighed as their butler rushed in.

“Yes, madam?” He asked politely.

“Get Bill some tea, he’s not feeling well. And tell the driver I’ll be another minute or so,” she ordered the man before turning back to Bill. “Now, now, my darling, whatever is the matter?” She cooed, pulling up further up the stairs.

“Nothing, mom,” Bill complained, a bit annoyed.

“Oh don’t be like that. You know you can tell me anything – I’m always here for you,” she beamed as they entered his room.

“Really, since when?” Bill asked bitterly; under normal circumstances he never bothered, but right now he was already feeling so down he didn’t feel like pretending anymore.

Simone stared at him. “Since ever,” she stated firmly.

Bill rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m tired. I’m going to lie down.”

“Bill,” she said softly. “I know I haven’t always been there for you but…”

“You have _never_ been there for me!” Bill almost yelled, suddenly furious.

His mother looked shocked at his outburst but composed herself rather quickly. “Don’t you dare put that all on me, Bill. You shut me out of your life long ago, remember?” She said sharply. “How often did I try to be part of your life, but you didn’t want to have anything to do with me? You even stopped coming home during summer while you were still in school! You stopped talking to me years ago… Right after you started going to Tonbridge,” She added quietly.

Bill stared at her. Had it really been like that? But she had always been so… annoying. She had been so nosey and… interested in his life that he didn’t want to share because he knew she wouldn’t approve. Was he also to blame for their bad relationship…?

“Oh Bill… I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know things haven’t been easy for you, but I just…” She shook her head. “What’s the matter?” She asked softly.

Now he also felt like apologizing. In the past twenty years or so, the only things they ever really spoke of was work and the weather. They just didn’t have anything in common and he felt misunderstood, so what should he have ever said to her?

“Wendy died,” he mumbled quietly.

Simone gasped softly, walking over to him immediately and hugging him. Something she had only done a handful of times ever since Bill had begun attending school. “I’m so sorry, my love,” she whispered softly as she caressed his hair soothingly.

Bill sniffed quietly, finally letting his tears fall. “She died over ten years ago and I didn’t even know,” he muttered miserably.

Simone guided him to the couch where they sat down and she cradled him in her arms, like she used to when he’d been a little kid. At that moment he didn’t even care that he was supposed to be a grown-up, because he felt miserable and just wanted someone to hold him while he cried over all the pain and loneliness he had felt over the past 12 years.

“I miss them so much,” he sobbed quietly, only to stop dead. Had he seriously just said they?!

No way his mother would know how he meant that though, right? She knew he had also been really good friends with Tom, so it’s not like she would come to any weird conclusions, right?

No, of course not. That was crazy… She had probably not even heard him right.

“I know, sweetheart. I know how much they meant to you…”

 


	14. Chapter 14

Bill lifted his head from her shoulder. “W-what?” She didn’t mean it the way he thought she meant it, right?

Simone sighed, caressing his cheek with a sad smile. “So what ever happened to Tom?”

“Oh,” Bill said slowly, trying to calm his rampaging heart. “He lives in Tonbridge… He owns a flower shop.”

Her smile brightened. “That’s wonderful. I remember he always had a knack for flowers. Saved my lilac petunias from certain death once!” She laughed softly.

Bill also laughed a bit, wiping at his eyes with his sleeve. “Yeah, I remember that – when you had given them that weird fertilizer that almost killed them.”

“Oh yes. It was awful,” she said tragically and chuckled, before continuing in a slightly more serious tone. “Did you go see him?”

Bill nodded, taking one last shaky breath before sitting up again and composing himself. “Yeah. I went to see him earlier.” Did he really want to talk to his mother about all this…? But who else did he have? The Gs didn’t know Wendy or Tom or anything that had been going on back then, so they probably couldn’t relate at all… And maybe his mother really was trying right now?

Just in that moment, Henry knocked and brought their tea. “Anything else, madam?”

“Please call Mallory and tell her I won’t be able to make it to our tennis match today. She should be at the club already. That would be all – thank you, Henry.” She smiled at the elderly man who gave a polite nod.

“Yes, madam.” And with that, he left again.

Bill smiled softly at himself. It was the first time his mother had cancelled her plans for him. It was also the first time he had given her a reason to, but still…

“So how is Tom doing?” She picked up where they had left off while Bill poured them some tea.

“Good,” he mumbled hesitantly. Should he tell her that she was a grandmother? How would that go over? Did she want grandkids? They had never spoken of it…

Clumsily, he handed her the cup, almost spilling some. ‘ _Pull yourself together, Bill_!’ He cursed inwardly.

“Are you alright, my dear?” Simone asked softly, giving him an understanding smile.

“Yeah. Fine… I just… I was surprised to see him, that’s all.” How could he explain this to her? She would probably fie of a heart attack if she knew the truth.

“Oh. I thought you had gone over to see him?” She asked confused.

“Yeah. No. I mean yes… I did… But no… Well… I went to the flower shop – I hadn’t known it was his,” he rambled nervously.

“Oh. I understand.” She nodded, taking a sip from her tea. “He told you about Wendy?”

Bill took a quiet, deep breath to calm himself. “Yes. She had an accident.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that… I always liked her very much. She was such a bright young woman,” she said slowly, apparently dwelling in memories.

Bill just nodded, not knowing what to say.

“You should invite Tom over some time. It would be a real shame if you two lost touch again.”

“Uh… Yeah… I don’t really think that Tom wants to stay in touch, mom,” Bill muttered uncomfortably. How could his mother suggest that? She knew Wendy had left him for Tom…

“Oh. That’s a real shame. You two were always so close.” She shrugged.

Bill gave her a weird look. “It was ages ago.”

“Yes, but good friendships don’t come along every day. I don’t know exactly what happened between the three of you, Bill, but I do remember how happy they made you. And how devastated you were when they were gone…” Simone suddenly wiped at her eyes, and Bill noticed in shock that she was crying.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” He asked concerned, putting his tea down and scooting a little closer.

She lifted her head to give him a devastated look. “Oh my darling… It was me and your father,” she said quietly before a wave of sobs overcame her.

“What…?” Bill asked confused, a sickening feeling spreading through his stomach. “Mom? What are you talking about?”

She took a deep breath before looking at him; her eyes filled with sadness and regret. “I saw you with them… And I told your father because I was so upset and didn’t know what to do... I’m so sorry, Bill. We thought we were doing the right thing.”

“What did you do?” Bill whispered horrified, edging away from her.

“Oh Bill, I’m so sorry,” she sobbed, reaching over to touch him, but he moved out of her grasp.

“What did you do?!” He almost yelled, getting up.

“I didn’t know how much they meant to you. I thought you were just fooling around and I was scared if someone found out it would ruin your future!” She said desperately, but Bill barely heard her.

“The letter,” he muttered. “It was from you… I don’t understand… But… They left… How did you get them to simply leave me like that?” He whispered in disbelief.

“Your father gave them a letter from you which stated you would be disinherited if they didn’t leave, and that you wouldn’t throw your life away for them,” she admitted sadly.

Bill wanted to hit her and scream at her, but instead he just sat back down, staring at the teapot. Over ten years of his life had gone to waste… Ten years he should have spent with Tom, instead of in total loneliness and misery.

“How could you, mother?” He whispered, giving her a desperate look.

“I’m so sorry,” she stuttered, overcome by a new wave of tears. “I didn’t know any better. I was so shocked when I found out what was going on… I was so scared for you… I was scared for what it would mean for our family if someone found out. I was scared what my friends would think of me. I was scared of losing you to a world that I wasn’t part of…” she rambled miserably in between sobs. “You had already distanced yourself so far from us, and finally I knew the reason. I was so scared of losing you completely that I did the only thing I could think of…”

“You destroyed my life, mother. Tom and Wendy were all I ever wanted, and you took them from me,” he said bitterly. “And now Wendy is dead… She died believing that she was worth less than money to me.” As much as he wanted to yell at her, he couldn’t because he was actually moved by her regret even though he was so angry. “You should have disinherited me.”


	15. Chapter 15

Even though Tom had intended to stay in bed for the next century, he ventured down into the shop that evening to make sure everything was taken care of. It was; Hale had watered the flowers, swept the floor, closed the shutters and turned off the lights. What was he supposed to do then? He didn’t want to go upstairs because he’d already spent the entire day in bed, internally whining over his pathetic existence, so now he wanted to do something. But Hale had already done everything…   
Maybe he could go downstairs to clean up in the basement? Everything was covered in rubble and whatnot from the renovation…

Just as he was about to go, someone suddenly knocked on the door, nearly scaring him to death. “We’re closed,” he said in the politest tone he managed in his annoyance. Seriously, couldn’t people read the ‘Closed’ sign?!

Apparently not, because just as Tom was about to turn off the light, they knocked again. Tom sighed, walking towards the door; maybe they hadn’t heard him.

“I’m sorry, we’re already-” He stopped dead, staring at the person behind the glass door. “Bill.”

Bill waved awkwardly. Quickly, Tom unlocked the door to let him in and then locked it again once he was inside; did he just lock himself in a room with Bill?   
Before he could ask what Bill wanted, this one handed him an old, slightly crumpled piece of paper.

_Dear Bill,_

_We’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for quite a while now, but neither of us knew how to start so we decided to write you instead, because hopefully this would make it easier for all of us._

_As fun and awesome as the time was with you, we’ve decided to move on because, let’s face, this thing between us won’t last forever. We’re not kids anymore so it’s really time to move on. We know this might come as a bit of a surprise to you, but we’ve been thinking about it for a long time already and we agreed this was what’s best. You just don’t really fit with us. You live in a different world that neither of us will ever be part of._

_Please don’t make this harder than it already is by contacting us – let’s just part ways friendly.  
We wish you all the luck and happiness in the world._

_Tom and Wendy_

“What the f- is this?” Tom muttered once he was done reading.

“My biggest fear; the one my parents used to separate us,” Bill said softly.

“What?” Tom asked in disbelief. “Who the hell wrote this?”

“My mother.” Bill sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“And you believed this?!” Tom almost yelled at him.

“According to what she told me, they also gave you one, which stated that I left you for my inheritance,” Bill replied with a frown.

“Yes.” Tom nodded slowly.

“And you believed it?!” Bill barked at him, startling him a little.

Tom groaned, rubbing his face with his hand and tossing the letter aside. “Yes. We believed it because it was _our_ biggest fear…”

“How could you ever think that of me?” Bill asked bitterly; he looked so hurt.

“It seemed logical… I don’t know… How could you believe me and Wendy would ever be happy without _you_ in our lives?”

“I don’t know…” Bill mumbled with a shrug.

“How could this happen? How could we throw away our lives based on letters? Why didn’t we ever talk about this? Why didn’t we fight for each other?” Tom asked in disbelief, but Bill just shook his head.

“I don’t know… I guess life teaches us to be rational and actually listen to what others say, instead of going with what we truly want…”

“That’s crap,” Tom said flatly. They had wasted 12 years of their lives.

“And you know what manipulative bastard my dad always was,” Bill added with a grimace.

“I’m going to kill your father, that motherfucking son of a whoring b-”

“Tom!” Bill interrupted him with a laugh. “You haven’t changed at all.”

“You have,” Tom said slowly.

~*~

Actually that wasn’t true at all; Tom had changed a lot. He had gone from the slightly awkward, dreadlocked kid to… Well, Bill wasn’t entirely sure yet to what exactly, but something very different. He looked so confident and… hot. ‘ _Shush, Bill. Concentrate._ ’

“My father’s already dead, so there’s no need,” he assured Tom before the silence got too long and awkward.

“Oh. Did you kill him?” Tom asked passively.

“What?!” Bill shrieked before realizing it was one of Tom’s somewhat unfunny jokes. “No. He died of cancer four years ago.”

“Oh… Sorry,” Tom gave him an apologetic smile.

“Eh… It’s probably better, otherwise I might have found myself in jail sometime soon.” Bill grinned; he was dead pissed at his father for what he did as well.

Tom chuckled a bit and then sighed, running a hand through his slightly long, dark hair. He looked so good… Had Tom always been that attractive? Back in the day, Bill had always paid closer attention to Wendy – not that he hadn’t become attracted to Tom as well, but his attention had always been a bit more on her when it came to looks because… Why had that been? He didn’t even know anymore. And it didn’t matter because right now he was starting to develop a very immature crush on his old lover. He hadn’t felt this way since… Since Wendy. And right now all those ancient feelings starting crashing back down on him, overwhelming with emotions he had no names for.

“So um…” Tom continued slowly.

“Yeah?” Bill asked a little too quickly, immediately biting on his tongue.

“How’ve you been?”

“Oh,” Bill said stupidly, surprised at his own disappointment. Had he been waiting for something else? “Good. And you?”

“Good.” Tom nodded.

“Good.” Bill also nodded. Well this was awkward. How had they done it back then? They had always been so relaxed and comfortable around each other… They had never run out of things to say and there had never been any awkward silences… This was awful.

Tom suddenly chuckled.

“What?” Bill asked suspiciously.

~*~

“I don’t know. It’s just funny seeing you… It’s been so long and yet I remember it all so well.”

Bill gave him a slightly flustered smile. “You also remember this being so awkward?”

Tom laughed. “Yes. At least on Wendy’s 16th birthday it was for a few minutes…”

Bill covered his face with his hands, laughing. “Oh god. We were so stupid.”

Tom stepped a little closer to him, pulling his hand away from his face. They had wasted enough years in fear and misunderstanding. “Yeah,” he said softly. “We really were.” In Bill’s eyes he saw that Bill knew he wasn’t talking about their childhood.

With a weak nod, Bill closed the distance between them and captured Tom’s lips in a sweet kiss that quickly escalated to hot and hungry. Bill had always been such a rough lover; the mere memory let Tom shudder with an unfulfilled desire he’d been carrying with himself for over ten years.

Bill’s dominant tongue soon lured a few moans from Tom, whose entire body was starting to tingle with a sensation he hadn’t felt in years. Were they moving too fast?

‘ _Shut it, Tom. You’ve been apart for 12 years._ ’ Mentally he rolled his eyes at himself as Bill roughly pushed him against the shop counter. It’s not like there was anything to wait for right?  
In the back of his mind, he had a feeling he had forgotten something, but was unable to concentrate on it when Bill shrugged out of his jacket and pulled his long sleeved shirt over his head, revealing a body that was so familiar and yet so strange.

Tom’s sweatshirt soon followed Bill’s clothing, and a second later they were glued back together in a passionate kiss. Were they really going to do this right now? Here? In the middle of the shop?!

“Wait!” Tom gasped, pulling away from Bill who stared at him with lust filled eyes.

“What?” Bill asked breathlessly.

Tom cleared his throat, pointing at the large, glass windows. “Blinds,” he said unnecessarily as he moved to let the blinds down so any passersby wouldn’t see them.

Bill laughed quietly, startling to nuzzle around on his ear and making it nearly impossible for Tom to finish his task with the blinds.

“All done?” Bill whispered impatiently, pulling him around to kiss him without awaiting a reply.

“Hm,” Tom moaned, nodding into the kiss right before Bill dragged him back over to the counter, pushing him on top of it. Tom gasped quietly from the cold surface against his back, but before he managed to sit up, Bill leaned over him, continuing where their mouths had left off a second ago.

Tom’s mind was spinning out of control from the crazy situation. Today in the morning it had still been an ordinary day, and now suddenly Bill was here, and they were about to have sex on the shop counter. Was he even ready for that? He hadn’t done it since… Well since Wendy had died… But that had been slightly different sex because… because it had been without Bill. And sex with Bill was... very different to say the least. Especially when he was in such a heated mood.

“What?” Bill suddenly asked, lifting his head and breaking the kiss to stare down at him with an intense look.

“W-what?” Tom asked confused, slightly out of breath.

Bill lifted himself off a little more, looking slightly off. “Did Hale tell you?” He suddenly asked.

“Um… what?” Tom asked, completely confused. Why were they talking? Shouldn’t they be kissing? Or something?

“About the DNA test?” Bill asked quietly.

“What?” Now he was even more confused. “What DNA test?”

“Wendy was pregnant when we… broke up. Or were broken up. Or whatever…” Bill said hesitantly.

Tom stared at him for a moment, trying to get his thoughts back in order. Well that was a rather bad moment to talk about this. “Yes, she was.” He nodded.

“So you knew?” Bill asked in disbelief.

“That you’re her father? Yes, of course I knew that.” Tom sighed softly; such a bad moment to talk about this…

“What?! Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Bill asked outraged, sitting up on the counter.

“Because you hate kids and never wanted any.” Yeah, looking back on it, it had been a bad idea but… Oh well.

“That’s not true!” Bill said upset.

Tom raised an eyebrow.

“Okay fine, but you should have told me anyway. I would at least… I don’t know… Have paid alimony or something.” He shrugged.

“Yeah… That’s another reason I didn’t tell you: I didn’t want you to think I wanted your money. Because I really don’t.”

Bill smiled softly. “No? Then what do you want?” He asked huskily, coming closer again with a wicked glint in his eyes.

Tom smiled weakly, reaching over to run a hand through his hair and kiss him. “Just you. Right here and now.”

Bill chuckled, pushing him back down against the counter and boldly grasping Tom’s erection through his pants. “Oh yeah… You really do want me, don’t you,” he growled wickedly while Tom groaned under a touch he had nearly forgotten.

He moaned while Bill teased him; apparently he hadn’t changed that much after all. “Bill,” he groaned, searching for the other man’s lips.

“Yes,?” Bill asked with a naughty smirk that made Tom shiver. Was he really going to make him beg right now?

Apparently so because Bill’s skilled hand kept teasing him while Bill leered down at him. “Tell me, Tom. Tell me how much you want me,” he demanded, biting softly into Tom’s trembling bottom lip.

Tom groaned in defeat. “I want you so much it hurts. More than ever before. Please… Take me. I want to feel you in-”

“AAAH!” Bill suddenly screamed, jumping up so fast he fell off the other side of the counter with a loud thud.

“Bill!” Tom cried, sitting up, only to freeze in place. “Hale!” He said horrified, staring at the little girl standing in the semi closed door leading to the back of the shop. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

“I made dinner, like you said,” she said with a bright smile.

Oh right. That’s what he’d forgotten earlier…

Bill had gotten up from the floor and was staring over at her with a freaked out expression.

“Were you guys about to have sex?” She asked with one of her innocent smiles that Tom knew were actually totally perverted.

“Hale!” Tom said horrified. “What’s wrong with you?!”

“Of course not!” Bill shook his head.

“What are you thinking?” Tom asked outraged.

“Yeah, no way. We were so not doing that!” Bill said determined.

“Uh-huh. So are you going to get married?” She continued, making squeaky sounds that indicated she was excited.

“Hale!” Tom yelled.

“Okay, okay! I’m going upstairs so you guys can have sex. And don’t worry, I totally won’t stand behind the door and listen!”

“HALE!!!!”

 

 

The End

 


End file.
